A lot of people are approaching this from the lens of the enthusiast...
Anyone would think it was an enthusiast forum!
You're perfectly entitled to argue from a viewpoint of an enthusiast, however you have to remember that we make up a VERY small portion of actual visitor numbers to the park - therefore it should be the GP's ride experience that the focus prioritise,
not ours.
We ride these rides consistently more than members of the general public, we spend our spare time reading and interacting with forums discussing these rides - we're the ones who know the most about these rides and therefore a compulsory preshow obviously isn't something that we need, but there's absolutely no arguing that there's zero indication for members of the general public to stand and watch the preshow to get a backstory on the ride currently, and in skipping the preshow members of the general public are missing vital pieces of the narrative puzzle and will therefore get off the ride feeling confused.
That's not the case for us, obviously, as most of us already know all of the ins and outs and finer details as to what happens on the ride and the story that the ride is supposed to tell - but for people who don't religiously sit on the forums all day or have a passion for theme parks, there's absolutely nothing to tell them that they're missing key parts of the narrative by blitzing past the preshow.
Yes, in an ideal world this story would've been told in the ride itself - but the showbuilding is only
so big. Filling up half of the ride with a backstory would make for a very short story arc. Once the backstory narrative is complete, there wouldn't be much ride track left to complete the
ride narrative without it feeling rushed, which would also leave riders feeling like "was that it?".
The ride length currently is perfect - the pacing is spot on (the dark spots on the ride still need attention).
Whether they make the preshow compulsory or add something to the preshow to indicate that people are missing out on key elements of the story by bypassing it is totally up to the park - but the way it's executed currently is poor. I feel so horrendously awkward standing there as people stare at you stood in the middle of the queue, not moving - especially if the preshow hasn't started yet.
The bridge either needs widening and a sign saying "wait here for the preshow" (or something more fitting narratively), or the preshow needs to be made compulsory in my opinion. This was never an issue previously because The Haunted House or Duel were never narratively-led, however The Curse at Alton Manor most certainly
is narratively-led, therefore missing out on crucial bits of information (like those given in the preshow) detracts from the overall ride experience
massively.
Again - things need to be made better for members of the general public, not us enthusiasts. These people visit once, maybe twice a year at most. Standing in a compulsory preshow once, maybe twice a year would not be the end of the world for the majority of the general public. I can see how it would be an inconvenience to us enthusiasts, but like I said at the start... we make up such a small percentage of the actual numbers - so who cares!
